The controversy over the proper scope of immunity in Canada has pitted those who argue the letter of the law and the necessity of immunity for the conduct of international relations on the one hand; and those for whom torture is now recognized as so unconscionable that it should never be covered by immunity. In its ruling last week, the Supreme Court handed the first camp a victory. Now it's up to Parliament to act.

Nelly Trocmé Hewett, the daughter of two quiet heroes of the Second World War, will be in Montreal later this month to talk about her parents: Magda and André Trocmé, who inspired a network of resistance to the Vichy government’s deportation of thousands to concentration camps. A book of selected writings by the Trocmés, translated […]

Harper spoke eloquently in the House of Commons this week about Canada's credibility on the international stage if it failed to contribute to the mission against the Islamic State. If only he would apply his own logic to the fight against climate change, Canada and Canadians would be much better off.

A doubly fitting and inspiring Nobel Peace Prize. With this double Nobel Peace Prize, the fragile fate of numerous children worldwide living under oppression and in conflict-ridden areas is in the forefront. The choice of Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi for the prize is highly significant to me. How inspiring it is to hear such news […]

ISIL represents a real and present threat to the Middle East region. It has ruthlessly and systematically killed thousands throughout Iraq and Syria — innocent civilians, ethnic and religious minorities, humanitarian workers, and journalists — displacing hundreds of thousands more in its wake. Both the security threat and the urgent humanitarian crisis created by ISIL […]

No matter how reluctant this war-weary nation may be after a long, costly engagement in Afghanistan, nor how proud we are of our decision to say no to George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq, Canada cannot – and should not – avoid assuming its international responsibilities in the battle against the Islamic State.

Inviting the critics to see a new show that is the closing segment of an autobiographical trilogy is one thing. Obliging them to sit through parts one and two, for the second time, in order to see the finale, takes chutzpah. But actor/auteur director Mani Soleymanlou has no shortage of that. In his trilogy, made up of segments Un, Deux and Trois, but collectively marketed simply as Trois, he not only defies the critics, he takes on the whole of contemporary Quebec society, shedding light on a host of absurdities unique to this time and place.

I was looking over last week’s “wines of the week” and noticed that the first two wines had something in common. While one was made in Sicily, and the other in Argentina’s Mendoza region, both were a blend of their respective native red variety and petit verdot. Petit what?

The aerial bombardments had already begun by the time the United Nations Security Council unanimously endorsed U.S. President Barack Obama’s resolution Wednesday to beat back the extremists who have laid political claim to a broad swath of Syria and Iraq. The world has begun to respond to the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State with military air strikes that may well see troops from Western countries on the ground very soon. At the same time, this week’s binding UN resolution also calls for domestic anti-terror policies to be revamped to staunch the flow of foreign fighters to the front lines of jihadist-triggered conflicts.

Montreal-based GLV Inc. is getting out of the pulp and paper business and changing its name to Ovivo Inc. It announced Thursday that it’s selling the pulp and paper division for $65 million to become “a pure water treatment company.”

The teenage girl members of Lev Tahor who fled their foster home in Toronto earlier this month could not have managed the stunt on their own, says an advocate for their family in Israel. On Monday, The Gazette reported that the girls — age 15 and 17 — left their foster home on Sept. 12 and fled across the border to New York state. They were reunited with their father and have been staying in Borough Park, in Brooklyn, N.Y., at last report.

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